February 15, 2019
Tony Mendez (photo), the CIA’s longtime specialist on “exfiltration” (getting people safely out of countries), who was the character featured in the film “Argo” about sneaking six Americans out of Tehran in 1980, died January 19 at an assisted living facility in Frederick, Maryland, He was 78 and suffered from Parkinson’s disease. The film was based on Mendez’s book, but took great liberties with the facts.
